The Point of View
by hinterom
Summary: Here lies the account of what actually happened in Dragon Quest 9.
1. Chapter 1

"Apus Major, you summoned me?" Aquila shut the door behind him and made his way into the dimly lit room. Not many were requested to see the leader of the Celestrians, especially after the accident.

"Yes, m'boy." An excited voice called from the window. Come see!"

Aquila came cautiously to the window and gazed out at a familiar sight: the barren Yggdrasil Tree, shivering in the wind. "Sir...I don't understand-", Aquila started.

"You've heard of The Prophecy, no doubt." Apus Major turned, "Well it's about to happen! The tree is almost ready!"

Aquila shook his head, "Ready for what?"

"To bear its fruit." Apus Major's voice now suddenly grew mysteriously cold, "Listen to me! We cannot miss our chance! Finally, we have been called home. The Almighty is ready for His kingdom. And you are going to play a part in our Salvation."

Aquila slowly began to understand, "You...you're saying...I'm in the prophecy?" A grin creeped across his face, "Have I really been chosen?"

A muffled chuckle came from Apus Major, "Oh my dear boy, no not you. You're apprentice!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Why do they always stare?"

Aquila kept walking.

I suppose at this point, Castor should've been used to this...but then again, who can shrug off a cold glare from anyone? Especially from the people who are supposed to be your friends.

After his second or third year of schooling, Castor had been given his own personal tutor (right, that tutor was Aquila) and ever since then, he was seen differently. That conversation with Lyra, his supervisor at the time, left him with everything and nothing. BEven though this was a great honor, bing individually raised apart from the other kids did not fit Castor's description of ideal. In fact, he had quickly earned his place among a group of friends. A couple of guys who hadn't spoken a word to him since his "promotion." They simply stared.

"-Did you not hear what I said?" Aquila turned suddenly to Castor, who must've been daydreaming. He did that.

"Apus Major has asked me to bring you to him." Aquila's tone relaxed, "And I think you'll like what he has to say."

Castor grinned. Aquila always talked about his own first testing. Apus Major would sit the pupil down and ask them a few questions and then see how their physical skills were. Of course, there were few opportunities to shine during these examinations, so having a personal tutor who knew a few tricks helped. Aquila often liked to remind Castor of just how lucky he was.

Then the doors opened. There stood the famed Apus Major. He was looking out the window, just as his portrait in the library did. But the room seemed warmer than its illustrated duplicate. There were more people who now smiled at the visitors.

But Apus Major's smile was biggest.

"My sons! Welcome! Please, please sit!"

It was pretty much a blur from there.

As far as Castor could remember, there was a lot of clapping, hand shaking, and suddenly he and Aquila were out the door before they could say "Yggdrasil."

'What happened to the testing part?' He thought. But it looked like they were far beyond that. Aquila was pulling him to the Flight Gallery.


	3. Chapter 3

Castor had been to the Flight Chamber on a regular basis during the past month, so what was so special about this time? But Aquila pulled Castor quickly along as if his life depended on it.

"Aquila, what happened back there? What about the testing?" Castor asked as he tried to catch his breath.

But Aquila seemed to be wondering the same thing, "I thought for sure..." he started, but then shook his head dismissively. "Don't worry about it, Castor. I'm sure it was nothing...maybe it was a pre - examination of sorts. They do that you know." His pace slowed as they entered the room. The Flight Chamber almost acted like a gate. It was the main connector between the Human Realm and the Region of the Angels and only a few of the Angels were permitted to use it. One of the perks of being tutored, though, was that Castor was one of those lucky few who had actually stepped foot in the world below. Usually Castor and Aquila would use this opportunity to fight monsters. Since the Observatory was generally a peaceful setting, many forgot the importance of military training. But Aquila recognized Castor's skill with the sword, so he tried to endorse his pupil's interest as often as he could.

"Going down?" The gatekeeper Josephine asked when Aquila and Castor approached The Door. Aquila nodded.

And they jumped.

Castor hadn't thought about it until they were falling, but Aquila never told him why they were using The Door that day. Usually their monster training was a special treat. But Aquila seemed so sure of where they were going that Castor decided not to bring it up. After all, Aquila had been acting oddly ever since the "false alarm." He kept telling Castor it was nothing and that there was always next term to be promoted, but why did they clap? Castor barely had time to consider this before the hard ground materialized beneath him.

"Just give me a minute." Aquila snapped as he wiped his forehead, it had begun to rain.

Aquila wandered off over to the left, so Castor decided to take a seat. He soon realized that these grasslands seemed familiar to him. "Where are we?" He wondered, "I don't see any monsters." When Castor finally decided to speak up, he turned to an empty valley. Aquila was no where to be seen.

"Aquila?"


	4. Chapter 4

By the time the sky had turned an orange-ish pink, Castor had still not found any sign of his master. It was almost as if he had disappeared. The rain kept a steady patter against Castor's wings as he trudged through a muddy field. It seemed almost funny to Castor that Aquila had run off.

A few years back, when Castor had reached his tenth year in school, he had been informed of a chance to explore the Human Realm. Aquila at that time was still cynical towards his apprentice and assured him that the chances of Castor being chosen for this mission were slim. Nevertheless, a letter arrived days later inviting Castor to partake. The idea was simple, this opportunity was created in order to find responsible youngsters suitable for a promotion. At that time, Castor hadn't yet been to another world, so the idea of adventuring into the unknown was thrilling. When the company took flight, the twelve boys and girls who had been hand chosen were told what was expected of them. "Come back with a list of observations at least a page long." Their instructor said. "Only then can you prove your worth." The twelve were given a day below and when they had returned, none, especially Castor, was ever the same. And ever since, he had studied the lay out of each land he and Aquila visited.

But Castor still had no idea where he was.

The sound of distant voices broke Castor's day dream.

"C'mon Grandpa! Just a little further!" A young girl's voice carried across the hills and aroused Castor's curiosity. He headed toward the dirt trail which lay directly in front of him.

A dark haired, fair skinned, child held the hand of a withered man and trotted along the trail toward a wooden gate. The Humans could not see an Angel unless he allowed it, so Castor drew closer to the pair without fear.

"Erin..." The old man coughed, "Erin could we take a small break?"

The girl looked to the gate and the village that lay beyond it, "But...we're so close!" After thinking it over, though, the girl lay down her pack and let the old man breath.

Castor sauntered over to the girl and wondered what he would say if she could see him. She seemed intelligent for her age and full of life, but what was she doing out here all by herself with an old man to take care of? Suddenly, he heard a rustle of bushes off in the distance. Castor knit his eyebrows as he decided to investigate the disturbance. When he had reached the bush, a familiar sound reached his ears and he jumped back. The green cruelcumber made a hissing noise as he stepped out from behind his hiding place. A hideous grin overtook his veggie face and he reached for a tiny spear beside him.

But Castor was quicker and his sword glistened in the setting sun as it made contact with the cruelcumber's body.

A pained yelp escaped the monster before he turned to dust and Castor returned his sword to it's sheath, glancing back to the girl and her grand father.

They were completely oblivious. "Good." Castor thought. And he jogged back over to the trail.


	5. Chapter 5

The sign above the gate was old and weathered, but Castor still made out the words "Angel Falls." He remembered that name. This village was under Aquila's care. The sun was long gone and Castor decided it was best to stop searching for his master as he walked over to a nearby bench. Voices could be heard from somewhere nearby but the young angel didn't care to listen. "Why on Earth would he leave like that?" Castor wondered. It just didn't make sense. Suddenly, the voices were closer than Castor was comfortable with and he jumped off of the bench just in time to dodge a group of teens trotting down the walk-way. "You're such a dimwit, Hugo!" one exclaimed. The words belonged to a boy about Castor's age. He was a bit shorter though, with lighter hair and a rugged expression. "Am not!" replied another, "All I was saying is that the statue hasn't changed at all. It has said 'Castor' for as long as I can remember." "Whatever." The first boy grunted, "I just know the name used to be Aquila and now some monkey has gone off and changed it. Not that I care, though. Guardians don't even exist anyway." The boys were gone before Castor could regain his balance. "What do they mean...statue?" He thought. Castor knew that there were many humans who did not believe in the Guardian Angels so that comment did not surprise him, but if there was a statue that had his name on it... Castor dashed off after the two boys. 


	6. Chapter 6

The two boys continued an endless banter on subjects such as school work and vacation plans. "My dad claims we're too busy to go on vacation this summer." The boy who was called Ivor grumbled. "Gee, I can't wait to get out of here!" Castor rolled his eyes. How could they be so ignorant? It was then that he stopped himself. "Remember," He whispered, "they're only human."

The village wasn't very large. In fact, after a few blocks, Castor began to get an idea about the lay out. "So...you talk to Erinn much these days?" Hugo glanced to his friend curiously. But Ivor just shrugged. "Sure. How many people do you think live in this stupid town, huh? Don't really have many options." They were crossing a small bridge now and the two boys stopped abruptly. "Now look here!" Ivor ran over to a statue. _The_ statue. "It says Castor! Right here in the little box!" Hugo sauntered over and looked at the statue, unshaken. "Yeah, Ivor. I know. But that doesn't prove anything. Like I said before, that name has been there for awhile now."

Castor, too, drew closer and peered at the statue. Sure enough, his name was sitting right there, plain and simple. Castor began to piece it all together. Usually, the name of the village guardian was engraved on a statue like this one. And if it used to say Aquila as Ivor claimed, then the guardianship of Angel Falls must have been passed on to Castor! "That's why we came down here!" Castor started, "The Council took Angel Falls from him and so he wanted to say goodbye." But now it was dark, and there was no sign of Aquila anywhere. So the question remained: where is he?

The sun was coming up as Castor tried to keep his droopy eyes open. He had found a nearby park bench a little while after Ivor and Hugo left and was balancing his chin on his fist, thinking. It was nice being "invisible" sometimes, he thought. Because then people couldn't ask him what was on his mind. Of course, among the obvious, Aquila was still an active topic of wonder, but so was the way to get back home. To the Observatory. Castor pushed a loose bronze curl back behind his ear and shuttered.

Just then, a figure began to approach Castor and after a moment of watching it move, he realized it was the same girl whom he helped yesterday. Erinn passed Castor by without a glance and walked over to the guardian statue, which was a ways down the road, but still in sight. After Castor had realized what he had taken from his master, he decided it would be sort of strange to be camped out right next to his own statue, so Castor had moved during the night. But now he stood and followed the girl to see what she would do next. Erinn circled the statue slowly, staring in awe at its figure and began to speak to it, occasionally laughing (which seemed pretty crazy to Castor). As he drew closer her words became audible, "-and Castor...thank you for keeping us safe. I really appreciate it. That sounds dumb but I do." And at that moment she looked away from the statue and rested her eyes on Castor. "Thank you."


End file.
